Albino / Pink Convict

[Dieter]

Hi Everyone,

I need your opinions / expertise on this one.. please

When I got back into the hobby and bought the first few fish (without doing research first) I bought what was sold 2 me as a pair of parrots.

And they were put in a community tank.

Later I bought a pair of convicts and after they harassed the others I put them in their own tank and have eventually spawned and the fry are growing strongly..

Anyway meanwhile the "parrots" which to this day are still white have started showing the same behavior as the convicts where showing just before breeding and laid eggs last weekend.

The female "parrot" also had the red same coloring as the normal female convict whilst breeding.

I am convinced that these so called "parrots" are in fact Albino / Pink Convicts.

The pictures I have found on the internet look exactly the same as these fish, yet LFS when confronted disagrees and still says that these are Parrots.

Your comments please.

I attach pictures of both types.. you decide.

Regards

Dieter

[Donny]

The 3rd pic looks like a parrot ... the others are either chilids or convicts.

[johan008]

I have a black and a pink pair that is breeding and ja it is convicts(white) but supposedly it is hybrids and are not suppose to breed or able
The LFS's are sometimes not the sharpessed tools in the shed


The 3rd pic looks like a parrot ... the others are either chilids or convicts.

Its all convicts :mad:

[Dieter]

Hi Donny these are all pics of convicts from the web.. It's not pics of my fish but have similar coloring and shapes.

Convicts get the red coloration(females) when breeding.

I would prefer that they are convicts because I think the whole parrot thing is cruel.

I guess I'll just put them in their own tank, let them breed and sell them back to the lfs..

They have a couple of fish that they dont even know what they are.. sometimes its a bargain..

Eg. they have Golden severums for R32 and small Green Terrors and some bolivian rams..

[Donny]

Ok they all convicts :) thanks Johan .... Now Dieter there is progress. Lets gets pics of your fish :)

[SauRoN]

Do these pink Convicts of yours have zebra stripes down their sides, or are they pure white?

[Dieter]

the pink ones are all white or light pink except the female that has the red coloration on the abdomen and around the dorsal fin whilst in breeding..

[Gareth]

I was cought out the same way, I was told they were parrots and then when they grow I realized they were convicts and the do breed once they start they don't stop but unfortunately for me mine never bread at all.

[Dieter]

Mine laid eggs but being in a community tank the eggs didn't make it or they ate it themselves..? But I'll move them into their own tank and see what happens.. They just get too aggressive once they start breeding and then nothing in the tank is safe even the snails get attacked, although they don't seem to be as agro as the black striped/zebra convicts who regularly attack the hand that feeds them:blink1:
Anyway new tank arriving saturday so alot of re-arranging will take place..

[Zafgak]

Convicts are the cockroaches of the aquarium world - all they do is multiply and eat ....

[Dieter]

Still better than modified fish like parrots. :blink1:

[Zafgak]

That is also true - NEVER keep parrots (fish that is) and those dyed glassfish as well

[Ferryman]

educate me, i've read alot of people talk about parrots and something about em is cruel, but never mentioned WHAT the problem is?

Are they died, or misformed or what?

[Dieter]

the parrot is a man made hybrid, possible a cross between green severum and a red devil. These fish are popular because uninformed persons by them and they sell for high prices have a look when you visit your lfs often the large parrots will sell fast. sometimes they are artificially dyed or even tattoo d.
If you do a bit of searching on the internet you'll discover that these fish are malformed have a malformed spine and even organs when they are large the fish cant even close its mouth.

Do a bit of searching and you'll soon find the answers or the horrible truth.
here's a link..

http://www.aquariacentral.com/fishinfo/fresh/bparrot.shtml

*end of rant*

Regards

Dieter

[Ferryman]

thanks,
So those hunchbacks and tiny heads were bred into the "parrotfish" type.
Kinda like taking a krippled/malformed fish, and makin more of them?

Ive seen them at a few shops, but did't know whats wrong with them, (unless they're dyed in which case i woulda understood the problem)

[Gareth]

I feel the same as you Ferryman, If they are out there and you like it then buy it but if it is coloured or tattooed then I have a problem with it and I make sure the Lfs knows it and every body around me as well it is great having a very loud voice in cases like this

[Ferryman]

i found this on wikipedia

************
Description

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/OscarFish.jpg/200px-OscarFish.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OscarFish.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OscarFish.jpg)
A pair of Blood parrot cichlids.


Blood parrots are bright orange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_%28colour%29) in coloration, but various colors may be produced by dyeing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_fish) the fish, which can shorten life expectancy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_parrot_cichlid#cite_note-tims-1) The fish are injected with a colored dye by the breeder. Practical Fishkeeping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Practical_Fishkeeping) has been very successful in bringing this practice to light and as a consequence, the vast majority of fish stockists will no longer sell these modified fish, often nicknamed "Bubblegum Parrot". The fish have several anatomical deformities, including a beak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beak)-shaped mouth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouth) that cannot fully close, which they compensate for by crushing food with the throat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throat) muscles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle).[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_parrot_cichlid#cite_note-aquafriend-0) Blood parrots sometimes can have deformed swim bladders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swim_bladder), causing an awkward swimming pattern; abnormal spines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertebral_column), contributing to the unique shape; and unusually large, and often deformed irises (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_%28anatomy%29).[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_parrot_cichlid#cite_note-aquafriend-0)[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_parrot_cichlid#cite_note-creation-3) Adult fish can grow to a length of 8–10 inches (20–25 centimeters) and reach an age of 10 years or older.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_parrot_cichlid#cite_note-aquafriend-0) Some red parrots have reached over 15 years of age.


*******
if they can live long, eat, breed and happily swim about, then whats wrong with them?So they aren't the same as the original parents were, they manage on their own, and live the way they are



[i don't see people complaining about dog species, which have all basically been inbred to create all the differing species and well known traits, most of them susceptible to a plethora of ailments from cancers to arthritis etc, due to being crossed with certain mates of certain traits, the always shivering chiwawa and the flatfaced pug don't seem all that normal to me either, but they're all over the show, and accepted pets too]


i echo what gareth said, if they haven't been tampered with chemically, with dyes and tatooing etc, and they live well and can breed and eat enough and be fishy, then i don't see a problem with having parrot chiclids, imho


If a line is born that has problems with eating and starve to death due to the deformities, or an internal problem occurs because of their bent spines, or such related ailments, then i can see merit in boycotting the LFS or LPS selling them so the breeders will stop breeding them, but for those people who have the fish and can care for them tilll days end, i would't tell them to get rid of the poor fish because i think their condition is cruel, let the poor fish live out its life, thats what i think, i may be wrong, but thats my opinion

[Slojo]

Convicts are the cockroaches of the aquarium world - all they do is multiply and eat ....
+1 Two broods in 5 weeks.At least i'll keep my Os happy.